Welcome!
TrekSafer is designed to help backcountry travellers get real-time, and often urgent, information on wildfires near them. I built it when, midway through a weeklong backpacking trip, days from cell reception, I watched a plume of smoke in the distance with no way to find out what was burning, how big it was, or which way it was moving.
Text your GPS coordinates to TrekSafer from your satellite messenger or any other satellite-enabled device, the same way you'd text anyone, and it texts back the wildfires or avalanche conditions near you.
How it works
Send Fires or Avalanche with your coordinates attached. Dedicated satellite messengers do it automatically; if you're using a phone you'll want to copy and paste your coordinates from your navigation app.
TrekSafer replies with every fire near you (50km radius by default): distance, direction, size and status for fires, plus the air quality rating. Or in the winter, the avalanche forecast based on your coordinates.
Try it on the interactive device by typing in a message or picking an example and hitting send.
By texting the TrekSafer number, you agree to receive SMS messages from TrekSafer. Reply STOP to unsubscribe or HELP for assistance. Message frequency varies and message & data rates may apply. Privacy policy.
Use cases
Every message needs your GPS coordinates, which most devices attach automatically. Beyond that, here's what you can send:
| Message | What you get back |
|---|---|
fires |
Every fire within 50km: distance, direction, size and status. Fires that grew recently show the change, e.g. Size: 340 ha (+55 since 26h ago). |
fires active 25km |
Only out-of-control fires, within 25km. Distances work in km or mi, up to 150km; all includes extinguished fires. |
avalanche |
The avalanche forecast for your location: danger ratings by elevation band and the current problems. |
avalanche tomorrow |
Tomorrow's forecast only. current and all narrow or widen the days. |
fireid V10755 |
The full picture on one specific fire; see below. |
Watching a particular fire from camp? The fireid lookup returns everything TrekSafer knows about it, including the perimeter extent, recent movement, and how fresh the data is:
Location: Ainslie Creek
19km SSE
Size: 16197 ha (+1026 ha since 26h ago)
Status: Fire of Note
Perim: 49.93-50.10N 121.51-121.26W
Edge: moved ~1km SSE in the last 2d
As of <1h ago
Coverage
| Wildfire data source | Avalanche forecasts | |
|---|---|---|
| British Columbia | BC Wildfire Service | Avalanche Canada |
| Alberta | Alberta Wildfire | |
| Ontario | Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services | |
| Rest of Canada | Canadian Wildland Fire Information System | |
| United States | National Interagency Fire Center | National Avalanche Center |
| Wildfire data source | |
|---|---|
| British Columbia | BC Wildfire Service |
| Alberta | Alberta Wildfire |
| Ontario | Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services |
| Rest of Canada | Canadian Wildland Fire Information System |
| United States | National Interagency Fire Center |
| Avalanche forecasts | |
|---|---|
| Canada | Avalanche Canada |
| United States | National Avalanche Center |
Frequently asked questions
- Q: How much does this cost?
- A: This is a free service, and I intend to keep it free. If there's a demand for more advanced features such as a custom mobile app or automatic updates as you travel, I may build a pay tier. But for the basic SMS responses I plan to keep it free. The code is open source too, so even if I vanish into the mountains, anyone can spin up their own copy.
- Q: But seriously, how much does this cost?
A: Since you're gonna press me on it, unless you get free satellite messages, you'll pay your provider per message as usual; it just doesn't go to TrekSafer. Most of the time you'll get a single SMS response, so a cost of one SMS out and one SMS in. On a Garmin inReach plan that's currently 50c USD/message, about $1 per use.
But if you're in a high fire area (lightning storm just passed through, for example), you could get over a dozen messages back for the default 50km radius. To reduce costs I'd recommend using filters, such as
fires active 15kmto only show active fires in a 15km radius.- Q: Where do I download the app?
- A: No app, just SMS the number above and you're good to go.
- Q: Will I get spammed?
- A: Absolutely not! Messages to satellite devices can be extremely expensive, so you'll never receive a message you didn't explicitly request.
- Q: Who's running this service?
- A: I'm a software developer by day, and a backpacker by... weekend! I built this in my free time because I wanted it for my own trips and nothing out there quite did the job.
- Q: Will my Spot / ZOLEO / ACR work?
- A: I've tested this with a Garmin inReach Mini and cell phones with satellite support, and others have tested with ZOLEO. I expect it to work with any satellite SMS style of service as long as your GPS coordinates are included with the message. If it doesn't seem to be working or if you're worried it might not while in the field, email me at scott@treksafer.com and we'll work together to confirm compatibility.
- Q: Can I text from a regular phone?
- A: Yes, as long as you include your GPS coordinates in the message. For example:
Fires (49.414, -123.031). You can share your location as a map link as well. Apple Maps and Google Maps 'Share' links are supported, along with inReach and ZOLEO location links. - Q: What about my privacy?
- A: Message logs, including the coordinates you send, are kept for 30 days to troubleshoot any issues, then automatically deleted. Your phone number stays on file so that STOP requests stick and you only ever get the welcome message once; it's never shared or sold. The privacy policy has the full details.
- Q: Can I report a wildfire through TrekSafer?
- A: No. Before you head out, look up how to report a fire in the region you'll be hiking in, as every wildfire service has its own reporting line. If you'll be crossing state or provincial lines, save the numbers for each region before you leave.
- Q: Can you support my region?
- A: Email me at scott@treksafer.com with the region you'd like to see supported and any details about publicly available data. I'll see if it's possible to add it!